Sensex heavyweight Hindustan Lever was down by 3.87 per cent to close at Rs 171.30. More than 8.79 lakh shares were traded on the BSE as the markets was abound with news that a US-based hedge fund is believed to be selling on the counter.
HLL has shown a 10.65 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 382.92 crore (Rs 428.54 crore) in the first quarter ended March 31.
Net sales declined marginally by 0.55 per cent to Rs 2,367.50 crore from Rs 2,380.66 crore in second quarter 2002. But total income rose to Rs 2,508.77 crore from Rs 2,434.39 crore. Net profit though was lower than expected.
Monsoon is expected to be satisfactory this year, boosting rural sector purchasing power which should help as a large part of HLL